Improvement in steam engines and pumps



JQG. BAKER. Steam Engine and Pump.

No. 207,936. r Patent Sept. 10, I878.

mliwaum UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

JOHN G. BAKER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE ENTERPRISEMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM ENGINES AND PUMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 207,936, datedSeptember 10, 1878 application filed August 13, 1878. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. BAKER, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Steam Engines and Pumps, ofwhich the following is a specification:

The main object of my invention is to make a very oheap single-actingsteam-engine for domestic use, or for grocers, farmers, and others whomay be desirous of procuring an economical motor of comparatively smallpower. Another object of my invention is to make a single-acting pumpwithout the usual suction and force valves. These objects I attain inthe following manner, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved steam-engine,and it is also a vertical section of my improved pump; Fig. 2, a frontview; Fig. 3, a vertical section, showing the manner of operatingthepiston-valve from the connecting-rod; Fig. 4, a sectional plan on theline 1 2; Fig. 5, asectional plan on the line 3 4; and Fig. 6, adiagram, showing the circumference of 'the piston and the relation ofits passages to the steam and exhaust ports.

The following main elements are combined to produce my improvedsteam-engine: first, a cylinder, A, open at one end and closed at theother; second, a piston, B, adapted to the cylinder; third, acrankshaft, D; fourth, a frame or frames, E, for the bearin gs w w ofthe crank-shaft; fifth, a connecting-rod, Gr, hinged at one end to thepiston and connected directly to the crank at the other end; and, sixth,a valve and ports or passages for directing the steam to and exhaustingit from the cylinder on one side only of the piston.

By this combination of parts I produce a single-acting steam-enginethatis, a steamengine in which the pressure of steam is exerted duringone-half or nearly one-half only of the stroke of the crank; in otherwords, one half or nearly one half of the revolution of the crank is dueto the pressure of steam on one side of the piston, the other half ofthe revolution being due to the absence of this pressure and to themomentum acquired by the crank-shaft, which is furnished, as usual, witha fly-wheel or pulley.

I have found, by practical tests, that a small single-acting engine,thus constructed and'opcrating at a high speed, is quite as effective asan ordinary double-acting engine, and can be made at about half thecost, owing to the absence of cylinder-cover, piston-rod, stuffingbox,guides, and cross-head, which constitute expensive elements in commonsteam-engines.

Different kinds of valves and different kinds of devices for operatingthe same can be used. The ordinary slide or cylindrical valve, operatedby an eccentric, may, for instance, be employed; but I prefer to makethe engine still more economically by converting the piston itself intothe valve and by operating it through the medium of the simple devicewhich I will now proceed to explain.

A sphere, a, is formed on one end of the connecting-rod G, and isconfined to a socket, 1), within the hollow piston B, thus forming aball-and-socket joint, which permits the free movement of theconnecting-rod in obedience to the crank, and at the same time permitsthe piston itself to be turned laterally in the cylinder.

In the sectional plan, Fig. 5 H is the steamport, having directcommunicationwith the steam-boiler, and I thevexhaust-port, and M and Ntwo passages cutin the piston, the former for the steam and the latterfor the exli'aust, both passagesterminating abruptly at the top, belowthe upper edges of the piston, and extending downward to the bottom ofthe same, so that both will always be in communication with the cylinderbelow the piston.

During the greater portion of the upward movement of the piston in thedirection of the arrow, Fig. 1, the passage M must be in communicationwith the steam-port H while the exhaust-pipe is closed, and during thegreater portion of the movement of the piston in the contrary directionthe passage N must be in communication with the exhaust-port I while thesteam-port is closed, as more fully ex plained hereinafter. Hence itwill be seen that by properly vibrating the piston laterally in thecylinder during its reciprocating movements the necessary admission ofthe steam to and its exhaustion from the cylinder below the piston atthe proper time in relation to the position of the crank may beeffected. There are difl'erent devices through the medium of which thisdesired vibration of the piston may be efl'ected from a moving part ofthe engine;

but I prefer the simple device shown in Figs.

1, 3, and 4.

A rod, P, is so bent or otherwise so constructed as to present twocylindrical arms, m m, arranged at right angles to each other, the arm mfitting snugly, but so as to turn and slide freely in a transverseopening in the connecting-rod G, and the other arm, m, fitting snuglyand so as to turn and slide freely in a vertical orifice in the edge ofthe piston B.

As the engine operates there must necessarily be a vibration of theconnecting-rod, and while the piston reciprocates it must necessarilyreceive a lateral vibrating motion from the said connecting-rod throughthe medium of the rod P, the arm on of which slides and turns in theconnecting-rod, the arm m both sliding and turning in the orifice of thepiston as the latter reciprocates.

The diagram Fig. 6 will best serve to explain the relation of the portsto the passages in the piston at the different positions of the same.

Supposing the engine to be at halfstroke, as shown in Fig. 1, (the crankturning in the direction of its arrow,) and the piston to be risingunder the pressure of steam, the passage M will be in communication withthe steam-port H at the point shown by the black circle in the saiddiagram Fig. 6 while the exhaust-port I is closed, and this willcontinue until the piston has passed from the position Fig. l to thelimit, or rather nearly to its highest position, during which movementthe piston has been turned laterally in the direction of the arrow, Fig.5.

When the piston has reached the extreme limit of its upward movement therelation of the passage M with the steam-port H is indicated by thedotted circle H and the relation of the passage N to the exhaust-port bythe dotted circle I, the steam being cut off from the passage M, and thelower end of the exh austpassage N just commencing to open to theexhaust-port, when the piston will commence to descend, and during thisdescent the piston will continue to turn in the direction of its arrow,the exhaust still continuing and the steam being still cut 0%. When thepiston, during its descent, has reached the position of half-stroke, therelation of the passages M and N to the steam and exhaust ports isindicated by the dotted circles H and I.

During the farther descent of the piston it will turn in a directioncontrary to that pointed out by the arrow, Fig. 5, and when the pistonhas reached the limit of its downward movement the exhaust-passage willhave moved away from the' exhaust port, as indicated by the dottedcircle I and the steam-passage M will just be beginning to open to thesteamport H, as indicated by the dotted circle 11.

The shape of the passages will depend upon the relation of the steam andexhaust ports to each other and to the piston and its movements, andthis relation may be changed as circumstances may suggest.

It may be remarked that any fixed point in the piston will, as theengine operates, traverse an oval course, to which due regard must behad in determining the shape of the steam and exhaust passages; but thesimplest plan of doing this is to put the engine together before thepassages are cut, and then to make, through the steam and exhaust ports,and with the latter as guides, marks on the piston as it is beingreciprocated and turned by rotating the crank-shaft. These marks beingob tained, any skilled engineer will understand how to cut the passagesin the piston so as to bring about the desired result.

Although a vertical engine has been shown in the present instance, itmay have its cylinder inverted and the crank'below the same; or theengine may be horizontal or inclined, and different styles of frame-workmay be used in place of the two columns E E, on which, in the presentinstance, are the bearings w w.

In some cases I propose to connect the pistons of two, or even three,cylinders to the same crank-shaft.

Thus far the mechanism has been described as a steam-engine; but thecombination of the cylinder, crank-shaft, connecting-rod, the pistonautomatically vibrated laterally while it is reciprocated, the passagesin the piston, and the ports in the cylinder constitute a single-actingforce-pumpin other words, the machine as described can be used either asa steam-engine or apump without any alteration All that is necessary inapplying the engine to pumping purposes is to make the port Hcommunicate with a water-supply, when, by driving the crank-shaft in thedirection of its arrow, the water will be intermittently admitted to thespace in the cylinder and discharged through the port I.

I claim as my invention- 1. A single-acting steam-engine in which arecombined the following elements, namely: a cylinder closed atone end andopen at the other, a hollow piston adapted to the cylinder, acrank-shaft and a frame for the same, a connecting-rod hinged to thepiston at one end and connected to the crank at the other end, and avalve and ports for directing the steam to and exhausting it from thecylinder on one side only of' the piston, all constructed and operatingsubstantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a single-acting engine or sin gle-actin g pump,of a cylinderh avin g inlet and outlet passages, a connecting-rodembracing the crank at one end and at the other end attached to theinterior of the hollow piston by a ball-and'socket joint, and deviceswhereby the said piston may be vibrated during its reciprocatingmovement, all substantially as described.

3. The combination of the piston and the connecting-rod attached to thepiston by a ball-and-socket joint with the rod P, one arm, m, of whichis arranged to slide and turn in a transverse opening in the saidconnecting-rod, the other arm, on, being arranged to slide and turn inan orifice in the piston, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two sub scribing Witnesses.

I JOHN G. BAKER. Witnesses:

HENRY HoWsoN, J12, HARRY SMITH.

